Mishkat al-Masabih 3347 — Marriage

Abu Hurairah Narrated from:

When anyone’s servant prepares his food and brings it to him after being near its heat and smoke, he should make him sit down with him and eat; but if the company is large* and the food small in quantity he should put one or two mouthfuls of it in his hand.”* Mashfuhan qalil'an. The word mashfuhan is applied either to food which is small in quantity, or to food which is being partaken of by a number of people. The latter meaning obviously applies here as it is followed by qalil (small in quantity); but some people understand mashfuh here as 'small in quantity’ followed by qalil expressing the same meaning.Muslim transmitted it.